The Enterprise Portal - Between Success and Failure
- Dr. Moria Levy
- Jul 31, 2001
- 2 min read
In the new era, organizations face a knowledge and information overflow on one hand, and a multitude of supporting systems for work and information management on the other.
In such a reality, to manage the organization efficiently and qualitatively, it must learn to manage the knowledge stored within it, as well as the work methods and systems that support it. The organization must learn the art of 'organizing the organization.'
The enterprise portal offers a solution for 'organizing the organization' through advanced technologies. However, the path to a portal is fraught with challenges and risks. Here are several tips that will help ensure project success:
The portal needs to have a defined problem that it must solve.
The technology must fit and solve the needs and problems that were defined. (There are currently various tools in the market that solve different problems - the appropriate technology for the organization's needs must be found.)
Company management must be convinced of the portal's necessity - management support is crucial.
Care must be taken to ensure that the characterization required is not too broad and scattered.
Sometimes, there are attempts to address too many needs; the focus should be on the needs that are important to the organization.
The portal must be connected to the user's work environment, job-related.
Characterization of needs must be performed according to role definitions, not organizational affiliation.
The most available information in the portal will be the information whose use is most urgent and frequent.
A structured characterization and implementation process must back the project.
The portal is a technological tool that requires procedural and cultural solutions within the organization to accompany it.
In summary, the portal enables the organization to manage its knowledge effectively. It enables employees to manage their work, thereby making the organization as a whole more efficient and the employees themselves more effective. The enterprise portal elevates the organization several levels, as it serves as an umbrella for the existing knowledge within the organization. The portal does not touch, process, or change existing knowledge. Its entire role is to enable employees to use organizational knowledge according to the specific work requirements and habits unique to them - democracy through the lens of knowledge management.
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